


two years & six months

by alestar



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: I always hated the tag pre-slash, M/M, Post-Series, but this is literally that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8112388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alestar/pseuds/alestar
Summary: For the prompt: "Post war they run into each other at a bar, Hawk’s father dies during/post “Sons and Bowlers”, the stress of the war and OR becomes too much and one of them cracks, BJ is away (maybe even MIA) and Hawkeye needs someone"

  "Arterial embolism due to septal defect," Charles murmurs.  "Infarction followed by necrosis."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dickjoke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dickjoke/gifts).



\--  
  


Heartbreak is a beautiful thing. It is the womb of wisdom, the womb of art; if Charles Emerson Winchester the Third were a religious man, he would call it a blessing. So it is strange-- unbearably strange-- for Charles to find himself back in Beacon Hill, drinking tea with old friends, with nothing to talk about; no stories, no insights; only the barest remembrance of how to tamp down his irritation and behave civilly in civil company.  
  
His record is still remarkable, of course. His knowledge and skills are still remarkable-- so within two years he is appointed the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and in two years and six months he is delivering a lecture at the New England Symposium on Trauma & Critical Care to a mostly enthralled audience.  
  
He is leaned against a podium, frowning neutrally at the audience as he speaks at length on the surgical repair of popliteal aneurysm, when he sees the familiar face of Benjamin Pierce in the fifth row.  
  
They make eye contact, and Charles pauses. He expects some kind of disruption-- catcalling, heckling, the kind of reception Hawkeye would have incited at the 4077th-- but Hawkeye just sits and listens, all his mischief contained in a private wry smile. Charles recovers himself and thereafter ignores the other man, but during the questions portion of the talk he feels impatient, drawn tight, all of his answers terse and dismissive.  
  
Afterwards, the audience disperses, and Hawkeye comes up to him, still smiling-- but instead of greeting him like an actual polite member of society, Hawkeye claps him on the shoulder and turns, urging Charles forward and walking beside him. He says, "Not bad, Charles-- that was only half as dry as the martinis you're about to buy us."  
  
"We're not all entertainers, Pierce," Charles says, but he falls into step beside him.  
  
Hawkeye guides them down the hallway to the hotel restaurant and bar, but before they pass through the door, he stops and faces Charles. "You planning to attend any more talks today?"  
  
Charles looks past Hawkeye, down the hallway at the men arranged in clusters on the plush carpet, faces decked in collegial, half-interested smiles. "Yes," he says, mouth curling, "I'm sure I care what these cretins have to say about percutaneous drains." As an afterthought, he looks back at Hawkeye and asks, "Are you?" They are exchanging pleasantries.  
  
Hawkeye grins, and that's when Charles realizes Hawkeye's still holding his shoulder.  
  
"What, me? No." He shakes Charles a little. "I came for the dancing."

\--


End file.
